Intravascular medical procedures allow the performance of therapeutic treatments in a variety of locations within a patient's body while requiring only relatively small access incisions. An intravascular procedure may, for example, eliminate the need for open-heart surgery, reducing risks, costs, and time associated with an open-heart procedure. The intravascular procedure also enables faster recovery times with lower associated costs and risks of complication. An example of an intravascular procedure that significantly reduces procedure and recovery time and cost over conventional open surgery is a heart valve replacement or repair procedure. An artificial valve is guided to the heart through the patient's vasculature. For example, a catheter is inserted into the patient's vasculature and directed to the inferior vena cava. The catheter is then urged through the inferior vena cava toward the heart by applying force longitudinally to the catheter. Upon entering the heart from the inferior vena cava, the catheter enters the right atrium. In a procedure to repair a mitral valve using a mitral clip, the left atrium must be reached for the catheter to access the mitral valve of the heart. The catheter may reach the left atrium through a puncture in the intra-atrial septum. To do so, the distal end of the catheter may be deflected by one or more wires positioned inside the catheter. Precise control of the distal end of the catheter allows for smaller punctures in the intra-atrial septum, more reliable and faster positioning of a mitral clip on the mitral valve, and other improvements in the procedures.
The mitral clip needs to be placed precisely relative to the mitral valve. Once in place, the mitral clip is difficult to move or replace, so an accurate initial placement during the procedure is preferred. Imaging of the mitral clip and the catheter that delivers the mitral clip to the mitral valve in the heart is needed. Additionally, the ability to recapture a partially deployed mitral clip is desirable in the event that the distal end of the catheter and moves relative to the mitral valve and compromises the precise positioning of the mitral clip.
The recapture of the mitral clip requires the collapse of one or more moveable arms of the mitral clip. The one or more moveable arms move toward the axis of a catheter steerable guide catheter (“SGC”) and the mitral clip may be retracted or recaptured into the tip of the SGC to allow replacement and/or redeployment of the mitral clip. In some instances, the one or more moveable arms of the mitral clip may contact the tip or other portion of the exterior of the SGC and limit or prevent recapture. A more reliable recapture device and/or method may reduce complications and potential harm to the patient.